Amanogawa tōki watari ni aranedomo kimi ga funade wa toshi ni koso mate - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

天の川遠き渡りにあらねども
君が船出は年にこそ待て

Roma-ji: Amanogawa tōki watari ni aranedomo kimi ga funade wa toshi ni koso mate
English Translation: The River of Heaven
is not so wide a crossing,
and yet still for you
to set out upon your boat
I must wait the whole year through.
Meaning: The River of Heaven is not such a distant crossing, yet I must wait a whole year for you to set out in your boat.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 144

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Though the River of Heaven is no distant crossing, the Herdsman's boat sets out only once a year, and the Weaver must wait the whole year for it. The contrast between the nearness of the distance and the remoteness of the meeting conveys the frustration of the one who waits.
The author, written as Kakinomoto no Hitomaro in kana, is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet of the Asuka period, he is revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
A poem of almost the same form is found among the Tanabata poems in Book Ten of the Man'yōshū.

First line, "amanogawa," takes up the third line of the preceding poem and names the place of the lovers' meeting.
Second line, "tōki watari ni," means "a distant crossing."
Third line, "aranedomo," means "though it is not," with the concessive particle "domo."
Fourth line, "kimi ga funade wa," refers to the Herdsman's setting out by boat. In the Tanabata poems of the Man'yōshū, the Herdsman is often said to cross the River of Heaven by boat.
Final line, "toshi ni koso mate," means "I wait for it once a year," with "koso" resolved by the realis form "mate." Whereas the preceding poem's "tachii koso mate" sang of waiting within a single night, this poem sings of waiting on the scale of a whole year, treating the same theme in a different measure.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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